Did the Pope Perform an Exorcism?
We know. Your first reaction may have been 'What the hell?". But leaving aside discussions of heaven and hell to the men of Gods isn't sufficient when you can have sensational headlines such as 'Is the Pope an exorcist?". But the jury is out on this one. So what really happened? An Italian religious TV channel showed footage of the Pope blessing a boy in a wheelchair. And then exorcism experts (no really!) declared that an exorcism had infact been performed. The Vatican then swiftly denied the occurrence of any funny business. Is it just us, or does this have a 'Dan Brown novel plot' written all over?
Coming to the details, the case concerns a 43-year-old husband and father who traveled to Rome from Mexico to attend Francis' Mass on Sunday in St. Peter's Square. At the end of the Mass, Francis blessed several wheelchair-bound faithful as he always does, including a man possessed by the devil, according to the priest who brought him, the Rev. Juan Rivas.
For all of you who have failed to get a sense of drama from the video, we word it out for you (please play imaginary creepy music in your head for this one). Pope Francis laid his hands on the man's head and recited a prayer. The man heaved deeply a half-dozen times, shook, then slumped in his wheelchair.